End the Cycle of Violence

Living free from violence is a human right, yet millions of women and girls suffer disproportionately from violence both in peace and in war, at the hands of the state, in the home and community. Across the globe, women are beaten, raped, mutilated, and killed with impunity.

Gender-based violence stems from the failure of governments and societies to recognize the human rights of women. It is rooted in a global culture of discrimination which denies women equal rights with men and which legitimizes the appropriation of women's bodies for individual gratification or political ends. Everyday, all over the world, women face gender-specific persecution including genital mutilation, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, and domestic violence. At least one out of every three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

Violence against women feeds off discrimination and serves to reinforce it. When women are abused in custody, raped by armed forces as "spoils of war," or terrorized by violence in the home, unequal power relations between men and women are both manifested and enforced. Violence against women is compounded by discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, sexual identity, social status, class, and age. Such multiple forms of discrimination further restrict women's choices, increase their vulnerability to violence, and make it even harder for women to obtain justice.

States have the obligation to prevent, protect against, and punish violence against women whether perpetrated by private or public actors. States have a responsibility to uphold standards of due diligence and take steps to fulfill their responsibility to protect individuals from human rights abuses. Yet such violence is often ignored and rarely punished. Too often no one is held accountable for these crimes.

With your help, we can hold states and perpetrators responsible and put an end to this cycle of violence against women.

By Amal Habani, Winner of Amnesty International USA’s 2015 Ginetta Sagan Award In July 2009 when my colleague was arrested and tried for wearing trousers in Khartoum, I could no longer stay silent. Wo...

New research conducted by Amnesty International on the surge in military activity in South Sudan over the past weeks clearly shows that regional and international efforts to end the human suffering ca...

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Colombia: Protect Transgender Women (UA 155/15)

One transgender woman was found dead on the night of 4 to 5 July in Cali, south-western Colombia. Two other trans women were injured, one of them fatally, following attacks with knives during a separate incident, also in Cali.

It's your body, know your rights! Check out our global campaign to help ensure that everyone has access to their sexual and reproductive rights and to stop criminalization of sexuality and reproduction by governments.